Rail-joint.



WALTER J. SMITH, 0F IBESSEMER, ALABAMA.

- RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May-30, 1916.

Application led September 7, 1915. Serial N o. 49,2021. l

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WALTER J. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Bessemer, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama,have invented a new and' useful Improvement in Rail-Joints, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in rail joints, and the invention has forits object to provide mechanism of the character specified, for securelyjoining the meeting ends of the rails without the use of bolts or thelike passing transversely of the rail, and vwithout the necessity oftransverse openings in the rails or the joining means, and whereinthemechanism is arranged to support the meeting ends of the rails in truealinement, and against the possibility of lateral or vertical movementwith respect to each other,

and without interfering with the movement of expansion and contractiondue to temperature changes.

In the drawings: Figure l is a top plan view of the improved joint withparts in section, Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2 2 of Fig.1, Fig. 3 is a partial per-` spective view of one of the wedges, andFig. 4 is a similar view of one of therfish plates or splice bars.

The present embodiment of the invention is shown in connection with themeeting ends of rails 1 and 2, and the attachment comprises a seat, bedor saddle, comprising a body 3, adapted to be arranged beneath themeeting ends of the rails and between the same and the ties, and thesaid seat or bed is of suflicient width to extend beyond the baseflanges of the rails at each side thereof, as shown. rlhe upper face ofthe seat is grooved longitudinally as shown in Fig. 4 to receive thebase flange of the rails and at each side of the groove the seat isprovided with an upstanding longitudinally extending flange or rib 5.Each flange or rib has its inner face 6 inclined as shown, the saidfaces inclining upwardly and outwardly.

Fish plates 7 are provided for engaging the opposite sides of themeeting ends of ythe rails, the said plates being of a width to eX- tendfrom the tread of the rail to the base flange as shown in Fig. 2, whenthe inner face of the plate is spaced from the adjacent face of the webof the rail. The upper side edge of each fish plate is beveled orinclined as shown at 8 to fit the under face of the tread and the lowerside edge of each plate is beveled as shown at 9, to lit the upper faceof the base flange.

The inclined surfaces Sand 9 are spaced apart from each other asufficient distance, that is, the width of each fish plate is such thatwhen the surface 8 of the fish plate is engaged with the under face ofthe tread and the surface 9 is engaged with the upper face of the baseflange the inner face of the fish plate will not engage the web but willbe spaced apart therefrom to provide a space between the inner face ofeach fish plate and the adjacent face of the web.

The inner face of each sh plate is grooved longitudinally intermediatethe side edges thereof as shown at 10, and toward its lower side edgeeach fish plate is thickened. Each l fish plate is provided on its outerface and at its lower edge with a laterally extending flange or rib 11,and just above the flange the fish'plate is provided with a beveled orinclined surface 12, the said surfaces inclining in they oppositedirection to the surfaces 6 of the ribs or flanges 5 of the seat.

A wedge or wedge bar 13 is arranged between each fish plate andtheadjacent rib or flange 5 of the seat, each of the said wedges having atrapezoidal cross section as shown. That is, the opposite facesvof thewedges are beveled in opposite directions and at inclina-V tionsco-rresponding to the inclinations of l the surfaces 6 and 12 of theribs or flanges 5 and the fish plates. With this arrangement it lwill beobvious that when the wedges are forced downwardly between the saidinclined surfaces the fish plates will be forced inwardly toward thewebs of `the rails. The wedges or wedge bars 13 are of less thickness ordepth thanthe height of either surface 6 or 12, and they are of suchwidth that when inserted between the said surfaces in the position shownin Fig. 2, 'a portion of each wedge will extend above the tops of theribs 5, and above the tops of the surfaces 12.

Mechanism is provided in connection with each wedge for forcing thewedge downwardly, and each of the said means comprises a series of bolts14. Each wedge is provided with a series of openings 15, and the seat orbed is provided with a series of vertical openings 16 at each side ofthe groove 4 for the rail base. The openings 16 eXtend into the groove 4at their inner side 11 andv they also pass through notches 17' in therib or flange 11 of the adjacent fish plate.

The bolts are. passed from below' upward and the lower face of the seator bed is` bolt is engaged by a nut 21. The seat or bed is extended ateach side edge beyond the outer face of the adjacent web or flange 5 asindicated a 22, and the extensions 22 are notched or recessed asindicated at 28, for receiving spikes or the like to secure the seat tothe cross ties of the track. Each of the bolts 14 is polygonal over aportion of its length adjacent to the head as indicated at 24, and thenotches or recesses 17 and 19 of the fish plates and the rail bases aswell as the openings 16 of the bed or seat are similarly shaped toreceive the polygonal portions of the bolts. It will be evident thatwhen the wedge bars 13 are forced downwardly by turning the nuts 21, thefish plates will be forced inward toward the rails, and the upper facesof the treads of the rails will be held in true alinement and againstthe possibility of either lateral or vertical movement. As the partsbecome loose through wear the nuts may be be tightened to compensate forsuch wear. The rail base is also firmly wedged on the seat.

The fish plates cannot move with respect to the rail because of theengagement of the bolts 14: with the notches17 of the fish plates andthe rails cannot move with respect to the seat because they are lockedby the engagement of the-notches or recesses 19 with the bolts. Theentire oint is rigidly locked together by the bolts and wedges, andthere is sufficient space below the wedge bars to permit compensationfor any wear that may take place. The meeting ends of the rails are inaddition supported by a bed or seat which extends transversely of thespace between two ties, and the rail ends are held rigidly againstmovement in any direction with respect to each other.

I claim :M

In combination with the meeting ends of the rails, of a seat for thesaid ends and provided in its Vupper face with a longitudinallyextending groove for receiving the base flanges of the rails and at eachside of the groove with an upstanding rib or flange having its innerface inclined outwardly toward the top of the rib or flange, a fishplate at each side of the rail ends, said plates being of greater widththan the faces of the webs of the rails to prevent said plates fromengaging the said faces of the webs of the rails when the fish platesare in place between the tread and the base flange of the rails, eachfish plate having an inclined surface on its upper face at the adjacentrib, and of approximately the same height as the inner face of the riband inclined in the opposite direction to the said inner face, a wedgebar arranged at each fish plate between the inclined surface thereof andthe adjacent rib or flange of the seat, and means for forcing the wedgebars downwardly, said means comprising a series ofV bolts for each wedgebar, each bolt having a head and a polygonal portion adjacentY to thehead, and the seat and wedge bars having registering openings Ifor receiving the bolts, the rail base having a notch ateach bolt forreceiving the bolt, and each fish plate having an outwardly extendingrib at its lower end provided with notches for engagement by the bolts,said notches of the base flange and fish plate being shaped to fit thebolts, and a nut engaging eachrbolt above the wedge bar.

WALTER J. SMITH.

Sonics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of .Patents Washington, D. C.

